The Massey Murder

A Maid, Her Master, and the Trial That Shocked a Country

by Charlotte Gray

On Sale: 05/06/2025

Enlarge Book Cover

The Massey Murder

A Maid, Her Master, and the Trial That Shocked a Country

by Charlotte Gray

On Sale: 05/06/2025

Format:

Amazon Indigo

View More Retailers

Book Overview
Author Info

CAA Lela Common Award for Canadian History

Heritage Toronto Book Award

CBA Libris Award for Non-Fiction

RBC Taylor Prize

British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction

Ottawa Book Award for English Non-Fiction

Arthur Ellis Award for Non-fiction

Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year

OLA Evergreen Award

Toronto Book Award

About the Book

Winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Non-Fiction

Winner of the Toronto Book Award

Winner of the CAA Lela Common Award for Canadian History

Winner of the Heritage Toronto Book Award

A Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year

Finalist for the RBC Taylor Prize, the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, the Ottawa Book Award, the Libris Award, the OLA Evergreen Award

A scandalous crime, a sensational trial, a surprise verdict—the true story of Carrie Davies, the maid who shot a Massey

In February 1915, a member of one of Canada’s wealthiest families was shot and killed on the front porch of his home in Toronto as he was returning from work. Carrie Davies, an 18-year-old domestic servant, quickly confessed. But who was the victim here? Charles “Bert” Massey, a scion of a famous family, or the frightened, perhaps mentally unstable Carrie, a penniless British immigrant? When the brilliant lawyer Hartley Dewart, QC, took on her case, his grudge against the powerful Masseys would fuel a dramatic trial that pitted the old order against the new, wealth and privilege against virtue and honest hard work. Set against a backdrop of the Great War in Europe and the changing faceof a nation, this sensational crime is brought to vivid life for the first time.

As in her previous bestselling book, Gold Diggers—adapted into the Discovery Television miniseries Klondike—multi-award-winning historian and biographer Charlotte Gray has created a captivating narrative rich in detail and brimming with larger-than-life personalities, as she shines alight on a central moment in our past.

Critical Praise

“Canada’s pre-eminent historian. . . . A captivating read, balancing intense research with richly drawn characters and lively storytelling.” — Maclean’s

“Engaging. . . . Gray’s cast involves meticulously researched historical figures, whose behaviour she depicts with psychological insight. Narrated with a great sense of presence, irony, and verve, this book recreates a vanished world of Canadian jurisprudence and politics, invests it with life, and makes it memorable.” — The Globe and Mail

“An engrossing chronicle of Toronto’s social life at the beginning of the 20th century.” — Toronto Star

“Gripping and insightful . . . . Gray has managed to resurrect a devilishly intriguing character.” — Quill & Quire

In The Massey Murder, Gray shows real kindness and compassion, bringing a sense of humanity to a once-lurid tale from the tabloids.” — Winnipeg Free Press